Archive for the ‘History of Islam’ Category

Prophecy about the rise of ISIS
Nu’aym b. Hammad records in his Kitab al-Fitan (The Book of Tribulations):
“It is related on the authority of ‘Ali (may Allah ennoble his countenance): ‘When you see the black flags, remain where you are and do not move your hands or your feet (It’s a common phrase meaning: “Stay put and don’t get involved in the fighting”). Thereafter there shall appear a feeble folk to whom no concern is given. Their hearts will be like fragments of iron. They are the representatives of the State (Ashab al-Dawla). They will fulfill neither covenant nor agreement. They will invite to the truth, though they are not from its people. Their names will be agnomens [i.e., Abu So-and-so], and their ascriptions will be to villages. Their hair will be long like that of women. [They shall remain so] till they differ among themselves, and then Allah will bring forth the truth from whomever He wills.’”

Inside one Southern university, Christian missionaries are being trained to go undercover in the Muslim world and win converts for Jesus. Their stated goal: to wipe out Islam.

At 8 o’clock on a warm Monday morning in January, 20 students file into Rick Love’s classroom at Columbia International University in South Carolina. Eyes glassy from writing papers all weekend, they clutch Styrofoam cups of Folgers as they settle into their seats. In front, an overhead projector hums; it is hooked up to the instructor’s laptop, ready for a morning full of PowerPoint presentations.

Outside, CIU’s piney campus is quiet. Most of the student body has not yet returned from Christmas break. But these students, all evangelical Christians, have arrived two weeks early for an intensive course on how to win converts in Islamic countries. They’re learning from the master: Love is the international director of Frontiers, the largest Christian group in the world that focuses exclusively on proselytizing to Muslims. With 800 missionaries in 50 countries, Frontiers’ reach extends from the South Pacific to North Africa, with every major Islamic region in between.

Love is 49, a black-leather-jacket-wearing whirlwind of a man with a salt-and-pepper beard and a quick sense of humor. He’s a chronic multitasker, routinely praying aloud while drinking coffee and simultaneously reviewing his lecture notes. Little known outside the missionary world, he’s an icon within it-an evangelistic entrepreneur who wins admirers with what he calls his “middle linebacker” personality. His seminars are usually closed to the media and the public.

This morning’s lesson is about going undercover. Many of Love’s students are missionaries themselves, temporarily home from assignments in places ranging from Kazakhstan to Kenya. They know firsthand that evangelism is illegal in many Islamic nations, and they face expulsion if their true intentions become known. Love’s lesson for today is how to mask one’s identity while secretly working to convert Muslims. Evangelists, he explains, should always have a ready, nonreligious explanation for their presence in hostile areas.

Love fixes his gaze on a studious, spiky-haired missionary dressed in Patagonia clothing. “If people ask you, ‘Why are you here?'” he asks, “what do you say?” The young man, on leave from Southeast Asia, squirms in his chair. His jaw opens but nothing comes out. “Bingo!” Love says with a smile. “You bite your fingernails, and people go, ‘Of course he’s not hiding anything.'” Love notes that before he went to western Indonesia to proselytize among Sundanese Muslims, he went back to school and earned his credentials to become an English instructor. That way, he says, he had an excuse to be in the country. “I could look someone in the eye and say, ‘I am an English teacher,'” he explains. “‘I have a degree and I’m here to teach.'”

That, he says, is the model for winning converts in the Islamic world: Find another pretext to be in the country. Build friendships with the locals. Once you’ve developed trust, then it’s time to try to gain new believers. But don’t reveal your true purpose too early. “How did Jesus explain why he was there?” Love asks the class. “Indirectly,” volunteers a veteran missionary. “He’d say, ‘Why do you think I’m here?'”

this concept of no equal rights in the islamic world is a complete fallacy. During the era when muslims were in spain they allowed both jews and christians to practice their faith freely, however after during the christian conquest both muslims and jews were wiped off. I ask those with stereotypes to be more open and look back at history because it paints a very different story to public opinion held today. even with the crusades after the butchering of cities (even cannabalism), after their defeat, the muslims fed the defeated crusaders. When the French went to Algeria to supposedly enlighten the ‘barbaric arabs’ they ended up pillaging and slaughtered en masse the algerians. I do not say this as opinion but as fact from history. Please I do not say this out of anger towards any christian as a muslim is not one who holds a grudge, as Our Prophet (May God’s Peace be upon Him) even forgave those who mutilated the body of his uncle Hamza (May God grant him mercy). Christians I do not hate you so I ask why do you hate me and my religion. Please I sincerely ask you all, read about islam because it is a religion that has brought me into harmony with myself and you will never find that inner peace with your soul until you do. Muslims are not a people who lie but as with all faiths you find those who are truthful and those who are not. May God grant you all the light of Islam.

In the “General Prologue” of The Canterbury Tales , Geoffrey Chaucer identifies the authorities used by his “Doctour of Physic” in the six lines quoted above. The list includes four Arab physicians: Jesu Haly (Ibn ‘Isa), Razi (Al-Razi, or Rhazes), Avycen (Ibn Sina, or Avicenna) and Averrois (Ibn Rushd, or Averroes). These four did not make Chaucer’s list only to add an exotic flavor to his late-14th-century poetry. Chaucer cited them because they were regarded as among the great medical authorities of the ancient world and the European Middle Ages, physicians whose textbooks were used in European medical schools, and would be for centuries to come. First collecting, then translating, then augmenting and finally codifying the classical Greco-Roman heritage that Europe had lost, Arab physicians of the eighth to eleventh century laid the foundations of the institutions and the science of modern medicine.

After the collapse of the western Roman empire in the fifth century, Europe lost touch with much of its intellectual heritage. Of Greek science, all that remained were Pliny’s Encyclopedia and Boethius’s treatises on logic and mathematics; the Latin library was so limited that European theologians found it nearly impossible to expand their knowledge of their own scriptures.

The center of Europe’s new world view became the church, which exerted profound new influences in medicine. Because Christianity emphasized compassion and care for the sick, monastic orders ran fine hospitals—but they did not function as hospitals do today. They were simply places to take seriously ill people, where they were expected to either recover or die as God willed. There were no learned physicians to attend them, only kindly monks who dispensed comfort and the sacraments, but not medicines.

Because the Christian church viewed care of the soul as far more important than care of the body, medical treatment and even physical cleanliness were little valued, and mortification of the flesh was seen as a sign of saintliness. In time, nearly all Europeans came to look upon illness as a condition caused by supernatural forces, which might take the form of diabolical possession. Hence, cures could only be effected by religious means. Every malady had a patron saint to whom prayers were directed by the patient, family, friends and the community. Upper respiratory infections were warded off by a blessing of the throat with crossed candles on the feast of Saint Blaise. Saint Roch became the patron of plague victims. Saint Nicaise was the source of protection against smallpox. Kings, regarded as divinely appointed, were believed to be able to cure scrofula and skin diseases, among other maladies, with the “royal touch.”

With the study of disease and of patients neglected, licensed medicine as an independent craft virtually vanished. Those physicians who endured were mostly connected with monasteries and abbeys. But even for them, the generally accepted goal was less to discover causes, or even to heal, than to study the writings of other physicians and comment on their work. In the middle of the seventh century, the Catholic church banned surgery by monks, because it constituted a danger to their souls. Since nearly all of the surgeons of that era were clerics, the decree effectively ended the practice of surgery in Europe.

At roughly the same time, another civilization was rising in the east. The coming of Islam, also in the seventh century (See Aramco World, November/December 1991), led to a hundred years of continuous geographical expansion and an unprecedented era of ferment in all branches of learning. The Arabs rapidly melded the various cultures of the Islamic domain, and Arabic—the language of the Qur’an—became the universal language. By the 10th century a single language linked peoples from the Rann of Kutch to the south of France, and Arabic became to the East what Latin and Greek had been to the West—the language of literature, the arts and sciences, and the common tongue of the educated.

On Pre-Islamic Poetry & The Qur’an

1. Introduction

It has been a source of faith and pride for Muslims over the centuries in that the Holy Qur’an is the preeminent word of the Almighty, inimitable in style and absolute in nature. This conviction is as strong for believers of today as it has been for believers of the past. As the tradition of truth is distinguished from falsehood, the authenticity of the Qur’an has been challenged today as it has been in the past. Though the petty points of criticism have changed over the years, the archetype has remained quite the same since the very beginning. Time and again, these issue has been put to rest, only to be exhumed by depraved charlatans.

One such issue regards the question of pre-Islamic poetry in the Arabian Peninsula. The pagan Arabs of the pre-Islamic period were a proud and boastful people who were characterized by epic tales, heart-rending poetry, and eloquent prose. Indeed, their literary excellence had intoxicated them with glaring arrogance and self-worship. And then, with the revelation of Prophet Muhammad(P) , the Arabs had found a contest for their genius – The Holy Qur’an. Suddenly, their pride had been undermined by something even greater than anything they could have ever dreamed of, a book that had never been matched in beauty, wisdom, and structure, and which has remained unchallenged right to the present day. For the Arabs, the question must have found it’s time; can a more powerful book exist other than the one whose pen belongs to the Almighty himself?

In the previous century, attempts were made to discredit the established power of the Holy Qur’an by suggesting that the Muslims fabricated the poetry of the pagan Arabs after the revelation of the Qur’an. Should this be the case, those madmen whose blood boils with hatred against Islam would find some consolation in the dishonour of the Qur’an, no matter how shallow, how weak. It had to be an Arab, Taha Husayn, who sensationalized these Orientalist ideas in Egypt, 1927. Husayn’s 15 minutes saw their end when his fabulous ideas were shattered by erudite Muslim scholarship.

Recently Husayn’s ideas have been given new life by the Internet marauder, “P. Newton”. Newton’s entire argument concerning the pre-Islamic poetry boils down to the paragraph which says:

So it is not only Taha Hussein who believed that the so called “pre-Islamic poetry” is a fabricated work, there are also some respectable contemporary scholars who think that there is something fishy about this so called pre-Islamic poetry.

In this paper, we intend to examine the authenticity of the pre-Islamic poetry of the Arabs in light of genuine, contemporary scholarship. Such an examination will provide the grounds on which to determine the worth of such pompous, missionary censure, such as:

…there are also some respectable contemporary scholars who think that there is something fishy about this so called pre-Islamic poetry.

Toby Lester, writing in an article in the Atlantic Monthly, claims in a rather authoritative manner that:

The Impact of the Islamic Civilization

The lasting legacy of the Islamic civilization can be summed up under five main headings:

1. The Field of Religious Belief

The principles of the Islamic civilization had a profound impact on the religious reform movements that appeared in Europe from the 7th century until the age of the modern Renaissance. For Islam, which proclaimed the oneness of God and declared Him to be the only Sovereign, far removed from having any human attributes, performing any injustice, or having any shortcomings, and its declaration of man to be independent in his worship, his relationship with Him, and his understanding of His laws without any need for the mediation of the clergy, was a major factor in opening the minds of the people to these astounding principles. At that time people were suffering from violent sectarian disputes and having to submit their thoughts, opinions, wealth, and labor to the men of the cloth. So it was only natural that with the Islamic conquests spreading so far and wide from the east to the west, that neighboring nations would be influenced by Islam’s principles of belief above all else.

Introduction

The eternity of civilizations is measured by the amount of the everlasting contributions they offer to the history of humanity in various aspects of thought, sciences, and morals.

As we learn about the great role Islamic civilization played in the history of human development, we can identify these contributions through what Europe or the European renaissance and civilization has achieved. This is because the accomplishments of European civilization have been influenced by Islamic civilization which preceded it.

Without exaggeration, the modern European history is the natural extension of the history of Islamic civilization when it was flourishing. There was no separation between them.

Routes of Islamic Civilization to Europe

Historians are almost unanimous that Islamic civilization came in contact with the Christian European West during the medieval times, when Europe was going through total darkness, through three main routes. These routes, which varied in the level of activity and cultural impact, were Andalusia, Sicily, and the crusades.

When you think of European culture, one of the first things that may come to your mind is the renaissance. Many of the roots of European culture can be traced back to that glorious time of art, science, commerce and architecture. But did you know that long before the renaissance there was a place of humanistic beauty in Muslim Spain? Not only was it artistic, scientific and commercial, but it also exhibited incredible tolerance, imagination and poetry. Muslims, as the Spaniards call the Muslims, populated Spain for nearly 700 years. As you’ll see, it was their civilization that enlightened Europe and brought it out of the dark ages to usher in the renaissance. Many of their cultural and intellectual influences still live with us today.(more…)

Sad and his deputation brought presents and were warmly received at the royal court by the T’ang Emperor Kao-tsung, (r. 650-683) in c.651 CE, despite a recent plea of support against the Arabs forwarded to the Emperor in that same year by Shah Peroz (the ruler of Sassanid Persia). The latter was a son of Yazdegerd who, along with the Byzantines, already had based their embassies in China over a decade earlier. Together they were the two great powers of the west. A similar plea made to Emperor Tai Tsung (r.627-649) against the simultaneous spread of Muslim forces was refused.

First news of Islam had already reached the T’ang royal court during the reign of Emperor Tai Tsung when he was informed by an embassy of the Sassanid king of Persia, as well as the Byzantiums of the emergence of the Islamic rule. Both sought protection from the might of China. Nevertheless, the second year of Kao-tsung’s reign marks the first official visit by a Muslim ambassador.

The ‘Great Mosque of Guangzhou’ is also known as Huaisheng Mosque which means ‘Remember the Sage’ (A Memorial Mosque to the Prophet) and is also popularly called the ‘Guangta Mosque’ which translates as ‘The Beacon Tower Mosque’. Huaisheng Mosque is located on Guantgta Road (Light Pagoda Road) which runs eastwards off Renmin Zhonglu.

Prior to 500 CE and hence before the establishment of Islam, Arab seafarers had established trade relations with the “Middle Kingdom” (China). Arab ships bravely set off from Basra at the tip of the Arabian Gulf and also from the town of Qays (Siraf) in the Persian Gulf. They sailed the Indian Ocean passing Sarandip (Sri Lanka) and navigated their way through the Straits of Malacca which were between the Sumatran and Malaysian peninsulas en route to the South China Sea. They established trading posts on the southeastern coastal ports of Quanzhou and Guangzhou. Some Arabs had already settled in China and probably embraced Islam when the first Muslim deputation arrived, as their families and friends back in Arabia, had already embraced Islam during the Prophet’s revelation (610-32).

Important questions about Islam to each person uses his mind
~ Who sparked World War II and I? Is it Islam and Muslims ??
~ Who has killed 20 million human residents of the same indigenous Australia? Is it Islam and Muslims ??
~ Who sent the bombs to hit Hiroshima ? Is it Islam and Muslims ??
~ Who has killed more than the 100 million Indians from the Red Indians in North America? Is it Islam and Muslims ??
~ Who has enslaved about 180 million of Africans?
most of them died as slaves and about 88% of them and been thrown in the Atlantic Ocean
Is it Islam and Muslims ??
do u have heard that the arab have produce films or draw comics or cartoons that harm to Christianity, or one of its symbols